There is a term that screenwriters sometimes use called the "inciting incident." That is the incident early on in the script that basically sets the story in motion. For instance, think of the movie Titanic. Early on, Leonardo di Caprio's character wins passage on the ship in a poker game. He thinks it is a great bit of luck, but we all know better. For his character, that one game sets the stage for what will come. It is the inciting incident.
In my latest novel, Bachelor Number Five, the inciting incident comes when our heroine, Amanda, sees a magazine cover on the rack at her local grocery store. She is fed up with her life in small-town Iowa. When she sees a tabloid magazine with a cover promoting the bachelors from her favorite TV show, it sets her own story in motion. That one image leads her to pack in her life and move off to Hollywood.
The magazine cover in question shows her favorite bachelor standing bare chested on an L.A. beach. I thought it was a pretty good idea when I wrote it. Then yesterday I had a bit of a deja vu moment. I went to my local supermarket and saw this in the magazine rack at the checkout stand:
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Hollywood is always trying to sell sexy bachelors and bachelorettes. Why else would I have written the book? It is nice to see, however, that my imagination isn't too far off the mark!
In my latest novel, Bachelor Number Five, the inciting incident comes when our heroine, Amanda, sees a magazine cover on the rack at her local grocery store. She is fed up with her life in small-town Iowa. When she sees a tabloid magazine with a cover promoting the bachelors from her favorite TV show, it sets her own story in motion. That one image leads her to pack in her life and move off to Hollywood.
The magazine cover in question shows her favorite bachelor standing bare chested on an L.A. beach. I thought it was a pretty good idea when I wrote it. Then yesterday I had a bit of a deja vu moment. I went to my local supermarket and saw this in the magazine rack at the checkout stand:
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Hollywood is always trying to sell sexy bachelors and bachelorettes. Why else would I have written the book? It is nice to see, however, that my imagination isn't too far off the mark!
